Trump Secretly Switched to Military Plane in Israel After Receiving 'Assassination Intelligence'

U.S. President Donald Trump secretly switched to a military aircraft after receiving "assassination intelligence" from Israel when leaving Turkey following the NATO summit last month, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 11th (local time).

A U.S. government official told the newspaper that Israel passed along intelligence regarding an Iranian assassination plot, including information that "shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles could be used targeting Air Force One."

The official added that no missiles were actually fired at Air Force One, marking the first such deception operation during President Trump's term in office.

The WSJ explained that while the reliability of this threat information was not confirmed, White House Secret Service personnel at the time determined that extraordinary measures were necessary to protect the president.

President Trump's "secret escape," which was akin to an intelligence operation, became known through a report by the Washington Post (WP) on the 10th.

When departing Ankara Airport in Turkey on the 8th of last month, President Trump made a public show of boarding Air Force One before secretly slipping through a door on the opposite side of the aircraft into a catering container, transferring to a military transport plane, and heading to the United Kingdom.

White House reporters aboard Air Force One believed President Trump was traveling with them, meaning the plane essentially served as a decoy to evade Iranian assassination threats.

Reporters traveling from Turkey to the U.K. were asked to lower their window blinds during takeoff.

That evening, when reporters asked why they were told to lower the blinds, President Trump only replied, "It was probably a dangerous flight because of the filthy people we have to deal with."

The C-32A transport carrying President Trump flew to RAF Mildenhall in the U.K. with its tracking system turned off, using an ordinary call sign, "Reach 18," rather than "Air Force One," the air traffic control call sign assigned to aircraft carrying the U.S. president.

Upon arriving in the U.K., President Trump hurriedly boarded Air Force One without the press noticing, before appearing before cameras to encourage U.S. service members.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.